The School of Nursing and Health Studies underwent a major operation this January, breaking down their organizational structure into academic departments.
Associate Dean Michael Bergin reported that in the past three years, the NHS has experienced a 62 percent rise in undergraduate applications, contributing to a lower selectivity rate of approximately 36 percent.
In order to accommodate the growth in enrollment, academic programs and research opportunities, while at the same time maintaining quality standards, Dean Bette Keltner charged the Organization Restructuring Taskforce to investigate a possible shift of responsibilities. Deliberations commenced last spring and the taskforce recommended the decentralization to the Executive Faculty by May.
“In many ways, we had been operating as de facto departments for several years, but had never altered our administrative processes to catch up with that change,” said Jason Murray, assistant dean for student academic affairs who served on the committee.
The departments stem from the current NHS offerings – Professional Nursing, Advanced Practice Nursing, Health Systems Administration, Human Science and International Health.
According to the proposal, the new structure will leave curricular and budgetary decisions at the program level.
The reorganization will “strengthen accountability for planning, program quality and faculty development, research productivity and resource development,” according to the proposal submitted to Daniel Sedmak, executive vice president for health science at the Medical Center.
With greater localized decision-making, unique departmental jurisdiction and enhanced flexibility, the changes allow each program to remain “nimble to adjust to changes in the field,” Murray said.
The proposal further aims to predict greater NHS representation and visibility with regard to medical center governance and funding competitiveness.
With just under 700 students, NHS Deans said they anticipate the strength of their advising system to strengthen under the new organization.
Although students were not actually involved in the proposal process, Bergin updated the NHS Academic Council with a short presentation during the past semester.
Bergin said that the changes will have a minimal effect on students.
“Our intention was to make this process seamless from a student perspective,” he said. “The only changes that are apparent to our students are more efficient services.”
Chair Patrick Durbin (NHS ’04) met with Professor Judy Baigis to discuss student presence on committees, such as the Curriculum and Planning Committee.
The department system “allows opportunities for a larger student involvement as each department may have their versions/smaller committees of the school-wide ones,” Durbin said.